hey friends! weird to be posting here again!
tl;dr weekly online classes by donation, except the proceeds are being passed on to cool and good orgs I like
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Recent influence.
2020 is a new one. I’d never taught classes online until I (and pretty much everyone else) *had* to start teaching online this spring. After I adjusted to delivering my own material online, I started to get really inspired by it!
It’s been super cool to reconnect with past students, and to be able to reach people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to join in. We’re crushing distance, transportation, cost, commitment, and, so crucially, personal mental barriers like fear, shyness, imposter syndrome, or just a lack of spoons. I’ve had so many opportunities to reinvest in my own learning thanks to the increased access to high quality dance education, and am trying to take advantage of as much of this as I can while we’re teetering between in-person and online delivery. To be honest, I’ve been stressed about the inevitable drop-off in virtual programming as studios start to reopen. Access is /everything/.
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Older influence.
Some of you know I’ve loosely daydreamed for years about creating safe, sliding scale classes for my own lgbtqia2s+ community, as your resident incognito queer baby that just doesn’t want to be asked to explain their whole identity. My embarrassing university essays can confirm…
This has developed over time beyond just queer guds, but has stayed a daydream because I just don’t have the resources.
But bro, we’re on the World Wide Web now.
Big takeaways.
Access if everything. Safe spaces are also everything, and so is being able to control whether you feel safe or well served in a space. Both of these are important to me.
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Virtual spaces are:
• more accessible
• easy to share as much or as little of yourself as you’re comfortable in
• easy to leave if you don’t feel safe/served
• best
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I like the virtual spaces that I’m teaching in now, but here’s an opportunity to create my own space too.
This is self care™ or something. And community care. Classes will be free, but with suggsted donations to organizations I’m vibing with. I’m looking at gentle formats that will probably change week to week.
Full logistical details are on the Movement Goods page.
Updates about format and platform will be on instagram, and maybe here too.
Updates about organizations and donations will be here!
First up: Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
Let’s go!